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Bob Greenlee: An exotic New Year's resolution

By Bob Greenlee

Posted:
12/31/2015 06:36:56 PM MST

Updated:
12/31/2015 06:38:23 PM MST

Bob Greenlee

It's not too late to add one more New Year's resolution to your list of human frailties in need of redemption. Particularly if you are someone who feels compelled to do your part for planetary sustainability, climate change and a few other eco-related necessities. Not everyone will adopt this important opportunity, but then again, it just might be the thing you will be most proud of a year from now.

According to a March 10, 2015, article in the Denver Post, Wendy Lu McGill introduced a group of 10-year old Denver Public School kids to a batch of M&M adorned cookies made from pulverized insects. They also got to nibble on whole-roasted crickets while MacGill explained that she's an "Insects-as-Food Advocate" motivated to "ease the impact of large livestock on the environment." Some people think vegans are a bit weird, but as the pope once reminded us: "Who am I to judge"?

McGill has been promoting this bugs for the environment movement for some time now. At last year's Denver County Fair she shared some of her culinary skills by producing and sharing her locust snacks, "hopper bars" and crunchy crickets with curious passers-by. But her real passion seems to be working with kids because, according to her: "Kids are forming their habits now (and) whether or not they choose to eat insects it's important to me that they think about how their food affects the planet".

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Yes, food production does affect the planet along with a million other things. But the bug crunchers say some two billion people outside the U.S. already receive a large amount of their protein from eating a variety of edible insects. In addition, they claim these crunchy critters are packed with needed and essential vitamins and minerals and can be raised just like livestock but have a much smaller carbon footprint, requiring far less land and water, and emitting far fewer heat-trapping gases. Even the United Nations is active in promoting the use of insects for chronically hungry people and has so far identified over 1,900 different types of edible creepy-crawlies suitable for human consumption.

Boulder, being one of the most food-faddish places on the planet, is certainly ripe for encouraging the consumption of non-traditional free-range farm-to-table protein. Because so many of the city's most notable eating establishments have acquired single-word names, it's quite possible some local adventuresome chef just might consider opening up a new fast-food insect joint and call it "Grub." Guess what the specialty of the house might be.

Noting a host of ever-changing dining fads you might want to forego all that excessive kale now showing up on nearly every salad menu in town. Kale worshippers just might be obvious to the fact that consuming too much of the green stuff might be a health hazard. It can give some a serious bout of diarrhea or induce a condition of "hyperkalemia," a medical term for having too much potassium in your blood stream. If that weren't enough concern, kale contains a high amount of vitamin K that's considered to be a "clotting vitamin," and anyone on blood thinners or an aspirin regiment is cautioned to visit with their family physician before choking down more of the stuff.

Instead of this questionable kale fad, locals might want to consider a bunch of Oregon State University researchers who recently reported they've just developed a brand new strain of wild seaweed that contains twice the nutritional value of kale but "tastes just like bacon." Now that's fantastic scientific progress in my book. This variety of seaweed is said to look just like a translucent red lettuce that's rich in protein, vitamins and antioxidants but can be cut into strips and fried just like regular bacon to bring out its wonderfully baconey goodness. Let's hope these masters of the universe are nominated for and receive a Nobel Prize next year.

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